Magical Mishap
by AllyCatXandi
Summary: After Sakura's disastrous attempt to transform all the Clow Cards leading to a possessed bicycle, the mysterious force of Clow Reed causes the already weakened cards to break free, starting with the Change! And we all know what that card does... REVAMPING
1. Chapter 1

**Magical Mishap**

**- **Chapter 1 -

**A/N:** **This has been completely and totally revamped from its first copy that I started writing a long time ago when my writing skills were terrible. I kid you not, the story was so riddled with errors it was embarrassing to have up. But I did grow fond of it and couldn't bear to take it down, so I completely revised it. It's my first work on this site, and it got me through a lot of hard times. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, I really appreciated (and still do) your input and support. It's still nice to hear what people think, so I'll thank everyone in advance. **

**Spoiler Warning: There are references to the manga, which is marginally different to the anime. It also contains mild spoilers for the first CCS movie.**

**Disclaimer: CLAMP owns Cardcaptor Sakura, not me. This disclaimer will also apply for the rest of the story. **

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"Sakura…Sakura are you awake? Sakura, wake up, I'm _hungry!_" the voice of Cerberus drifted through the girl's slumber into her fogged up mind still weary with sleep. She reached up an arm, pulled Kero out of the air and rubbed his plushy soft ears against her cheek.

"Hoe?" she mumbled wearily, rolling over and squashing him. The creature struggled fruitlessly from under her, gasping for air. So much so, that it almost didn't notice the girl's brother enter the room. Kero stiffened, trying to make itself as much like a stuffed animal as possible while trying to stop a grimace of pain seeping across his features.

Touya sat on the end of Sakura's bed and placed a hand on her forehead, "Look Kaijuu, you're not well and should stay home today." He said concernedly.

"Mou, Onii-chan," Sakura groaned, not wanting to wake up, "I'm not a monster." She rolled over (much to Kero's relief) and glanced at one of the three alarm clocks that adorned her shelf. Eyes widening, Sakura leaped out of bed as she realized where she had to be and that she was late.

Her brother shook his head and turned to leave. "And knock next time!" The emerald-eyed girl shouted in way of goodbye.

As she heard Touya's footsteps echo down the hallway, Sakura laboriously struggled upright, revealing a rather flattened Beast of the Seal where her shoulder had once been. "Gomen ne, Kero-chan" she apologized sheepishly.

"Maa, I'm the Beast of the Seal, I'm perfectly fine!" Although Kero's declaration would have been a lot more effective had it not been wheezing so badly. "You, on the other hand, are not. Man, you had us all worried pretty bad last night; maybe that brother of yours does have a point."

"But today's Friday and Terada-sensei's giving us a math test, I can't just miss it!" she insisted, while struggling into her school uniform and racing downstairs to gobble down her breakfast. She briefly charged back upstairs to grab her backpack, but found Kero hovering at eye-level in her doorway.

"Kiddo," began Kero, "I _am_ coming with you to make sure you haven't overexerted yourself with magic usage." He paused, "Plus," he added as an afterthought, "The stuff in your Bento box looks gooood…"

"Do you always only think about food?" the Card Mistress asked him, "Otou-san's been getting suspicious about the mango pudding that went missing two days ago." Glancing nervously at the clock, she resorted to the using Cerberus' one weakness against it, "If you get out of the way I'll buy you banana daifuku later..."

"Woohoo!" it yelled, zooming around in circles around Sakura's light brown hair, before finally slipping into her backpack.

"Don't touch my lunch, Kero-chan, or I'll only be giving you natto to eat." Sakura threatened playfully. Inside the bag, Kero guiltily closed the lid to the bento box, shuddering at the thought of eating only fermented soybeans.

Sakura barreled down the stairs once more, despite the aching in her limbs. Being attacked by a bicycle tended to do that to a person. She sighed; it was her own fault after all. If she hadn't panicked at the prospect of losing her cards, this would never have happened. But there was no point dwelling on it, at least everyone had made it out safely and the card was restored to its proper state.

Heading for the front door with her eyes still only half open in sleep, she was not surprised to find that Touya had already left. Unhappily she figured it would be too late to catch up to him and Yukito, the object of her affections, even on rollerblades.

She stumbled clumsily over the porch, grabbing on to the nearest object for support without looking. It was a well honed instinct, one that had saved her from many tumbles and scrapes. Unfortunately for her, the 'something' she had clung to wasn't as solid as she intended, and Sakura screamed as both she and the 'thing' toppled over onto the ground.

It wasn't just any 'something'; it was a 'someone'. The person was her old rival from the Clow Card capturing days, to be exact. A certain Li Syaoran had been slammed into by a Kinomoto catapult, one that sent them both sprawling.

Now, while Sakura may not have noticed the awkwardness of the scene, Syaoran certainly had. A few months ago, he wouldn't have cared about their proximity. If anything, he would have been slightly annoyed or offended at being near nose-to-nose with his ex-enemy.

A few months ago, he hadn't had thefeelings sneaking up on him that _made _this awkward.

"Oh my, are you two okay?" Tomoyo came running; waving a new video camera over her head "You're not hurt anywhere, are you? Li-kun and I came over to see if-"

"I'm fine," interrupted Sakura, smiling as she helped a still-stunned Chinese boy to his feet, "I'm so sorry, I hope I didn't hurt you. Mou, I'm such a _klutz!_"

Unbeknownst to both parties, Tomoyo flicked open her vidcam and started filming.

Sakura smiled sweetly again and Syaoran felt the blood rush to his face. Curses! The Li elders would be turning in their graves if they could see what their descendant had become; a bumbling, love-struck fool, no less. Stuttering something that sounded like "I'll see you at school", he pulled away and sped off at top speed in the wrong direction.

Sakura blinked innocently. "Is there something bothering Li-kun?" she wondered aloud, "He just ran off like that, isn't it a bit strange? What do you think Tomoyo-chan?" the green-eyed girl asked her friend.

Tomoyo wasn't listening; she was still busy talking into her recorder. "Alas, poor Li-kun, the heart is so complex." She paused. "Oh, sorry Sakura-chan, did you say something? You did a really great job yesterday with the bicycle, by the way. It gave me an inspiration for your next battle costume, and a fantastic new pose…"

"T-Tomoyo-chan…."

"Ohohoho!" giggled Tomoyo, still lost in her own fantasies, "You'll look so _cute_!"

The two inseparable friends, walked to school hand-in-hand. This was different than the usual morning, since they lived in such different neighborhoods. Tomoyo's mother was also known to have a standing grudge against Sakura's father (although Sakura herself was always welcome), so interactions between the two families had always been a little strained, despite the two girls being second cousins. The chance that they get to walk to school together was a rare chance.

"Ara? Why are you taking your camera to school these days?" Sakura asked, "You never used to do it this much."

"Oh, there are some very important things I want to film, and I don't want to miss the chance to document it all." The other girl responded vaguely.

"Sou ka..." the Card Mistress cringed as they heard she school bell chime, just as they were entering the grounds. Her lucky streak to arrive a half-second before the bell was officially over. Bracing herself for a light scolding from the teacher, she _bravely_ entered the classroom, knees trembling.

"Everyone seems to be sleeping in these days." Terada noted as he surveyed the room. "Some students are still missing, while the ones who _are _here showed up late." Sakura gulped and tried to hide behind Tomoyo.

"Gomenesai, Terada-sensei, I –" Sakura couldn't think of an excuse that didn't involve magic, fighting, or spontaneously attacking bicycles.

She was spared the trouble as Naoko ran into the room, huffing, puffing, and generally red in the face. Naoko was the least athletic of the whole grade, and consistently coming last in any racing activities. She was the fastest reader (her strength from lugging hundreds of books to and fro was a great help for the cheerleading team), but nevertheless the slowest runner.

The glasses-wearing girl took a moment to catch her breath as the teacher waited patiently. "Sorry I'm late, Terada-sensei. Rika-chan twisted her ankle this morning and I had to take her to the Nurse's office. I came back as fast as I could." Naoko panted as she took her seat.

Terada's face softened slightly, then he composed himself. His soft spot for Rika was unknown to the class, and they had both decided it was better that way. Teacher-student relationships were greatly frowned upon, and if someone found out about his relationship with the girl...well, the consequences were severe. Jail and loss of his teaching license were examples of these, among other things.

But for Rika...the risk was worth it. She had maturity far beyond her years; Terada could have sworn that she was the one older than him, rather than an elementary schoolgirl. When he spoke to her it wasn't like speaking to a child, rather an equal, someone who would understand. He had denied the feelings, disgusted at his self for even _thinking _such a way about such a young girl, let alone one of his students_._ It had made him feel dirty, corrupted, and unclean, although the way in which he thought of her was certainly not. Just being with her, teaching her, watching her face light up at a compliment, it had been enough for him.

Yet no matter how many times he had pushed those thoughts from his head, no matter how hard he tried it always came back with a vengeance. He had brutally tried to qualm Rika's advances, to still her obvious affection, dismissing it as a childish infatuation, nothing more. But to reject her hurt him more than he could ever anticipate. Hurt them both, and Rika injured that was more than he could bear to watch. Even now, at the notion of a simple sprained ankle, every instinct in his body was ordering him to go to her, demanding that he be her comfort.

Terada sighed softly and succumbed, "I see." He said shortly to Naoko before turning back to the class, "I will be back shortly, try not to destroy the room while I'm gone." And with that, he turned on his heel, making a beeline for the nurse's office.

Yamazaki strolled over to Syaoran as the teacher exited. "Speaking of sprained ankles," he began, "did you know that in Ancient Japan, they used to make bandages out of tree bark? Also the-"

"Yes, yes, then what?" Chiharu interrupted, noticing Yamazaki beginning to spin another of his fabrications. As her cousin attempted to say something more about ancient bandaging skills, she snatched a thick volume off Naoko's desk and whacked him over the head with it.

Eriol caught the book at the third assault on Yamazaki's head and gently pushed Chiharu aside. "Mmm-hmm, he's right, actually. But there had a lot of problems before the Indians invented fabric. They often had termites in the most popular wood which is…"

"Australian paperbacks!" both Eriol and Yamazaki chimed at the same time, eyes tight shut and in perfect unison.

Chiharu shook her head and grabbed Yamazaki in a chokehold from behind. "Lies, lies, lies, _again._"

"It was a lie?" asked Syaoran quizzically, who, as per usual, had fallen for it, hook, line, and sinker.

"Eh? Really?" Sakura frowned. Rika and Tomoyo just shrugged at her.

"But the thing about paperbacks actually sounded like it made sense." Naoko noted, taking her book back from Chiharu.

"That just means he's getting better at telling stories, but it won't fool me!" Chiharu tightened her grip, making the boy wheeze uncomfortably.

* * *

As his classmates chattered incessantly, Eriol eyed his unknowing pupil. He had waited decades for this moment, and he knew Clow Reed's spirit had been waiting for much longer. His existence was for the sole purpose to guide and protect the new Card Mistress, and for that his sacrifices were immeasurable. He was not Clow Reed, but the memories shared made his instructions clear, a blaring pointer to the use of his power.

That was why he had come to Tomoeda, why he had ceased his physical growth at the age of ten; to get close to Sakura. His duty as a reincarnation bound him, and thus he was unable to truly become the man Kaho deserved.

Kaho...

She was back in England at the moment, returning from a trip to track down the last of his –no, Clow Reed's – surviving decedents. As if the Li boy wasn't obvious enough with his powers to be from Clow Reed's mother's side, traced to origin in Hong Kong. The magician's mother was Chinese, and his father had been English. But really, all those centuries ago, there couldn't have been that many English-Chinese hybrids out there. A unique magical combination that was what made Clow Reed so powerful.

The Moon from his mother, the Sun from his father. A perfect balance of power used to infuse a deck of cards with magic.

It was only fitting that the new Card Mistress was an indirect descendent herself, having inherited that perfect, precise, power she was taking a step further to make her own. The other half was probably forty-something or so, the same age Eriol should have been, although he was not burdened (or blessed?) with power or memory. That man was the other remnant of Clow's divided soul; Kinomoto Fujitaka, Sakura's father. Kinomoto and Hirwagizawa; physically different ages, mentally the same, and both reincarnations of Clow's split soul.

Eriol was not complaining, he had never once objected to, or questioned, his role. He knew what he had to do. He raised his hand, one finger glowing red, and aimed it at her bag where he knew the cards were held. One of which began to adopt the same eerie glow, before disappearing into the air.

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Sakura and Syaoran both stiffened, sensing Clow Reed's presence. Jerking out of their seats, they ran for the door, zooming past the returning teacher. "What..." the tall man began, looking confused.

Tomoyo shrugged at him, "Um...they both had to use the bathroom?" she suggested hopefully as Terada began handing out tests from his desk.

Outside, Sakura and Syaoran were crouched behind a bush, to avoid the prying eyes of teachers and students alike. "That presence," murmured Sakura as she took out the deck containing both Clow and Sakura cards, "came from the cards themselves…"

"Are all 52 there?" asked Syaoran, who was leaning over her shoulder. The girl fumbled around, shuffling through the cards, frowning. She froze, eyes watering as she turned to face her companion.

"No!" Sakura cried tearfully, "The Change is missing!"

"D-don't cry" stammered Syaoran. He had seen plenty of girls in tears, due to his four sisters' many ex-boyfriends, and always saw it as a sign of weakness. But Sakura...she was different. As a child, he had always had a notion that the true cardholder should be strong and unbreakable. Granted, it had also taken him time to adjust to the idea of a female cardcaptor that had no connections (that he knew of) to Clow Reed. Yet Sakura was so perfect, but so breakable, just like his mother's favorite tea set. "We'll find it, as your motto says, we'll be alright. Anyway, we should ask Yue or that plush toy." He paused, "And isn't that it?" he said pointing to the blue hedgehog which was the Sakura Card.

"Yes" replied Sakura, who was now drying her eyes. Without thinking, she and Syaoran both lunged and grabbed the card. The hedgehog examined them for a moment, then grew brighter and brighter until there was a blinding blue light…

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Syaoran awoke to find Yue and Kero bending over him. "Sakura-san, are you awake?" asked Yue kindly.

"I'm fine, no thanks to that plush toy over there and-hey! What did you just call me? I'm Li XiaoLang, are you blind?" Syaoran snapped, accidently going back to his Chinese name in confusion.

Kero groaned. "Idiot gaki, this is just what I was afraid of. You and Sakura both touched the Change Card at the same time, so you're stuck in her body until we can sort out this whole mess."

"But where am I? Where is she? Why only us? How did this happen? How do we change back? Who-" Almost as soon as he asked, the answers came flooding to him.

"Later." Yue said shortly.

Over on a nearby couch, Sakura was stirring and opened her- or rather, Syaoran's- eyes. "Ara? Li-kun and I were outside school after sensing Clow Reed, and..." she frowned, trying to recall the incident, but was distracted by something else, "Why am I wearing the boy's uniform?" she asked, finding it more difficult than normal to get her mouth around Japanese phrases.

"Because right now, you _are _a boy." Syaoran intoned dully, still adjusting to the idea. His own body stared back at him, disbelievingly. The two Guardians quickly sped to her side before the girl-turned-boy flew into a full blown panic.

"All right kiddo," explained Kero, "This is a long story, so don't talk, listen. It seems like your little incident with the Dash two days ago must have-"

"Two _days _ago?" So much for trying to stop Sakura freaking out. "We've been unconscious for the entire afternoon and the night?!"

Kero ignored them and continued. "-left the other cards a little unstable from the ordeal. Naturally, everything would have stabilized, except the Clow Reed force broke the glyphic seal on the Change. Such a small amount of tampering would normally not do anything, but when the magical balance was already in more jeopardy than before, it released the card. Basically, the Change is on the loose, targeting people and _brats-" _here he cast a meaningful look at Syaoran, "-with magical powers."

"Who are you calling a brat?" Syaoran's demand fell on deaf ears.

Sakura tried to put the pieces of the story together. "So we're right back where we started and just have to catch it again?"

Yue took over the discussion, "Sakura Cards are much more powerful than the Clow ones, and you should know that. It is impossible to fix anything until the card is re-captured."

"We saw you and the kid collapsed outside the school, so I called Yue to help me fly you both to his house. Since he lives alone it was the only thing we could think of that wouldn't start people like that peach-blossom brother asking questions." Kero added, making reference to the kanji of Touya's name.

Sakura gasped, "I didn't come home last night; Onii-chan and Otou-san will be so worried about me!"

"Daidouji-san told them you were spending the night at her house, and neither had any objections. She additionally called the school to say you two had a sudden bout of food poisoning." Yue said simply.

"But I still have school…" started Sakura, "maybe I should use Mirror to be me, I mean Li-kun, I mean my body. You know, so that my family or anyone doesn't get suspicious." Kero and Yue both nodded in agreement.

Sakura walked over to Syaoran, and took the key from around his neck. The contact, not surprisingly, made him flush. She didn't notice and placed the key in her hand recited the releasing incantation.

The magic circle that was now her own appeared...and faded, key unchanged.

"Hoe?" she said, confused. Syaoran grabbed the key from her hand and closed his eyes, trying to tap into Sakura's magic. Once again, Sakura's circle faded as soon as it arrived.

Yue frowned, "It seems you are not compatible with Sakura..." it mused.

"W-_what?" _Had Syaoran been drinking anything, it would have probably spurted over the winged creature.

"I was talking about magic." It deadpanned.

"Your power was split by the change," explained Kero, "and neither of you are strong enough to use the magic requiring more than half of it." Yue looked at him, and the unspoken sentence hung in the air between the twins. _Clow Reed could have done it._ "You'll just have to live with it until we've figured something out." It concluded.

"Okay!" Sakura smiled brightly. It seemed to light up his whole face, and even though it was his body, Syaoran felt as if all of Sakura was being radiated out through him. "I'm sure we'll be alright!" she said.

"S-sure," mumbled Syaoran, "I-I suppose so…"

Tomoyo barged through the door, brandishing her vidcam. She hadn't bothered to knock, seeing no reason to in her excitement. "Sakura-chan!" she cried, facing Syaoran's body, "I have such a fantastic idea! It's called 'Sakura-chan and Li-kun's Body Swap Fiasco'! Ohohoho!"

"This is a serious matter!" Syaoran shouted, waving his new arms above his head while Tomoyo giggled mischievously. "Okay, back to business," she continued, "I brought Sakura-chan's clean uniform from her house; I told her family that it needed mending." Tomoyo's sewing and designer skills were legendary. She pulled out Sakura's uniform from a bag she was carrying and handed it to Syaoran.

The would-be-boy sighed irritably and stomped up some stairs, to return with his own uniform which he thrust into Sakura's arms. After moments of silence and strained awkwardness (courtesy of Syaoran), both were changed into their respective clothes.

"This really is gonna be one heck of a day!" grinned Tomoyo, who had charged her camera just for the occasion.


	2. Chapter 2

**Magical Mishap**

- Chapter 2 –

**A/N: Alrighty, the second chapter hath been edited and redone! You might notice that some of the chapters are combined. I did it to make the chapters a more reasonable length, I mean, three pages is just too short! There's also huge segments that have been added, and I'm sorry if some parts sound a bit angst-y. I was listening to a sad song at the time. But now I can't **_**find **_**my flipping iPod so hopefully that won't be a problem anymore. Bye-bye minna-san! **

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Just as Tomoyo, Sakura and Syaoran were about to step out the door, Sakura paused, then handed the hairbrush to Syaoran. No explanation required. In the brief moment when their hands touched, Syaoran once again felt the beginnings of a flush, and was painfully aware that Tomoyo's video camera was turned on. Turning away quickly from both the lens and Sakura he stammered out, "W-we'll be late if we don't hurry up, and please try to sound more like me, 'kay?" It just didn't make sense how he could still react this way, it was his own body after all!

"Okay! I mean, whatever, sure." Sakura corrected herself, while trying to give the room Syaoran's trademark glare. She was all too aware of what a Li Glare was like, having been on the receiving end for hours when Syaoran first transferred from Hong Kong. At first she had found it terrifying, quaking in her seat as she felt his eyes on her back. But now...well, the only time he so much as frowned was when she was injured, and she didn't feel afraid of that.

"Perfect Sakura-chan!" cried Tomoyo, "No one's ever gonna figure it out. Now Li-kun, try to smile a bit more…like Sakura-chan."

"I d-do not, t-that's not it!" stuttered Syaoran, who only heard the last part of what Tomoyo had said. Tomoyo giggled and patted her camera looking satisfied. Fortunately for him, Sakura had not heard that. If she had, she wouldn't have made the connection anyway.

"Oi gaki, stop fidgeting; Sakura doesn't do that!"

"Will someone shut that stupid plush toy up?"

"Make me, stupid kid."

"I'm not stupid, stupid."

"Stop it both of you!" It was very unlike for Sakura to shout at anyone, with the possible exception of her brother. Nevertheless, both Syaoran and Kero obligingly shut up.

"I am returning to my human guise." Yue announced in the silence, opening his wings and allowing them to close around him.

"But Yue-san, what-" started Sakura, but it was now Yukito, not Yue, who stood in Syaoran's living room.

The pale-haired boy looked around, not knowing where he was. These frequent blackouts of his were getting more and more common, and each time left him feeling drained of energy. "What am I doing here?" he wondered aloud.

Tomoyo came to the rescue. "Ohayo, Yukito-san! We were just going to see if Li-kun was feeling better; he had to miss school and we were getting worried. You decided to come along with us, remember?"

"Aah..." To tell the truth, Yukito _couldn't _remember. In fact, the last few days had been a bit of a blur to him. Whenever he mentioned his blackouts to Touya, the other boy always seemed pained. Time and time again his best friend had tried to tell him something, but stopped whenever another student made an appearance. He had no idea as to what it could be, but whatever it was, he would believe. Out of all the people he knew, Kinomoto Touya was the one he cared for the most. Touya was his best friend, the one he would trust with anything.

Touya had confided in only he when the woman now known as 'Mizuki-sensei' had returned to Japan from the years she had spent in England. No one else knew how hard he took it when she left him. She had told his friend that he would find another, someone who would be with him in a way she never would or could. She had broken Touya's heart, and yet Yukito could not manage to hate her for it.

But, the same day she had boarded the plane, she had smiled and whispered something to Touya, smiling at them both. Something his friend refused to tell him, dismissing it as unimportant. But Yukito had heard.

_"You're so kind to things that aren't human." _

Yukito shook his head stubbornly, clearing his mind. "So, are you feeling better, Li-kun?" he asked, turning to face Sakura.

Sakura smiled at him; leaving Yukito slightly astonished that Syaoran could do anything but scowl. "Yes, Yukito-san, just a bit of rest and I'm as good as new!" She remembered just in time to use a more masculine way of speaking than she usually did. .

Smiling cordially, Tomoyo didn't give Yukito any time to register 'Syaoran's' strange behavior. "Come on, we're all going to be late if we don't leave now!" she said, pushing the group towards the door.

The walk to school was fairly uneventful. Tomoyo made her best efforts to keep Yukito engaged in conversation, so that he wouldn't talk to Sakura. He may have been gullible, but even the most dense person would notice if Syaoran started acting _that _much out of character.

"Why aren't you wearing your rollerblades today, Sakura-chan?" Yukito asked Li, having escaped from the Daidouji girl.

Syaoran gritted his teeth and said nothing. "That's because she wanted to walk to school with Li-kun today!" Tomoyo threw out an excuse.

"Arigatou, that was nice of you!" Sakura decided it was time to start playing her role. She then whispered to Syaoran in an undertone, "It feels so weird to be taller all of a sudden"

"Try being me, shorter than usual" Syaoran muttered back.

"Any theories on sorting the body mix-up out?"

"None."

"Oh."

Syaoran saw an auburn-haired girl up ahead, and, guessing what Sakura would do, approached her. "Hi Rika…chan, how's your ankle?" he said, trying to smile. It came out a little strange, but Sakura's friend didn't notice.

"Fine, thanks Sakura-chan, I just hurt it on the stairs yesterday morning."

"I know, I heard it from...Naoko-chan." Syaoran really didn't pay much attention to Sakura's friends, they weren't important to him. So it took a couple seconds for the glasses-wearing girl's name to come to mind. "Terada-sensei left right after she told us, did he go visit you?"

The simple question made Rika blush bright red, showing the answer before she told him. "Yes..." she admitted quietly, shuffling her feet."He did."

Kero, who was at the time in the bag Sakura was holding, mused to himself. "That kid sure is better at acting as you than as a princess. I thought I was going to die laughing when I saw that twerp." It chuckled at the memory.

"I heard that you and Li-kun had to leave early," Rika said to Syaoran, "Did something happen?"

"I shared some of my lunch with my friends, and I think my baka Onii-chan left the tuna out of the refrigerator too long."

"Ah, sou ka. Tomoyo-chan ran out after you guys and didn't come back for two hours. She told us you got sick, but I think some rumor was starting to spread about you two eloping or something..."

Syaoran spluttered angrily, going red in the face. "Who's been saying that?" He demanded.

"Yamazaki-kun..."

"I'll kill him!" The 'boy' snarled, although it didn't sound half as scary in Sakura's voice.

"I think Chiharu-chan would be very upset if you did."

"Huh? But she's always beating him up!"

Rika sighed, a faraway look in her eyes. "Love works in strange ways..." she said softly.

And with that, Syaoran had to agree.

Sakura and Tomoyo walked down the hallway together, but to everyone it just looked like Syaoran and Tomoyo. Yamazaki was already in the classroom entertaining the other students.

"Hey, Hey, did you know about how in Hong Kong, students have to ride on scooters to get to school? There was a law passed in 1976 saying that no other transport was available and they had to pay for the scooters in seashells."

Chiharu glared at him. "I'm telling the truth!" Yamazaki insisted. "Would I lie to you?" All the other students watched Chiharu, waiting for her verdict on her cousin's tale.

"I did read something about seashells being used as money in China..." Naoko said.

Syaoran stepped in. "That's a stupid story, Yamazaki...kun. Students in Hong Kong take either the MTR –sort of like a bullet train, taxis, or the bus. They pay using cash or an Octopus Card. Seashells haven't been used as money since-" he cut himself off, realizing he was still in Sakura's body.

"Aha! I _knew _you were lying!" Chiharu thumped her friend over the head.

"How do you know so much about it, Sakura-chan?" Naoko asked Li.

"Oh, um...I went there once." Vaguely Syaoran could remember seeing her there. "I won a trip."

"Yes!" Sakura agreed, coming over. "Meiling and I saw you there." She turned to Naoko. "Her brother ate all the Dim Sum and I had to stop her from drowning in a pond. Ano...you're also in my seat." Oops, wrong desk. Syaoran got up and moved forwards and Sakura sat down behind him.

"Those who missed the test on Friday, please come with me to make it up." Terada instructed, indicating for Sakura, Tomoyo, and Syaoran to follow him. They were taken to and sat down in an unused classroom. "I trust you three not to cheat, so tell me when you're finished." He said.

Sakura stared blankly at the piece of paper with "Li Syaoran" written on the top. She hated math_. 'Poor Li-kun'_, she thought to herself, _'I'm gonna fail him at one of his best subjects!'_ Tomoyo and Syaoran, on the other hand, zoomed through the test, fractions and cross-multiplication was just too easy for them.

As they got up to put their tests in a basket, Sakura stood up and promptly banged her head on an open cupboard door, which she would have easily walked under if she was one centimeter shorter. "Itai..." she moaned, clutching her throbbing forehead.

Kero poked his head out of the bag, chewing on something. "I guess this helps explain why that kid is so clumsy. I always thought it was an inner-ear problem or something."

"Well, he does seem to get..._dizzy_…a lot." added Tomoyo, suppressing a grin at the blush that crept up Syaoran's new face, "I mean, it's only expected when blood keeps shooting back and forth from your head."

"Well, uh, Plush Toy, any ideas on how to get us changed back?" Syaoran decided to change the subject and stop Sakura's best friend from insinuating anything else.

"It seems like the card can't change you back until it's re-captured."

"But...but what if other people get switched as well?" Sakura asked worriedly, "What if they're in danger too?"

Syaoran put a hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry, that's not going to happen. Remember with all the other cards? They're only drawn to those with strong magical powers."

"So that's why only you and Kero changed when we captured it the first time" commented Tomoyo, the pieces falling into place. "and it couldn't or wouldn't change you back until it was caught." She paused. "Oh, and didn't Li-kun and Kero-chan have to be in a 'tight embrace' before they could change back? It's the same with Sakura and Li-kun, right?" She _so_ wanted to film that!

Syaoran's face now resembled a sun burnt tomato, but Sakura, who didn't notice, was frowning. "I thought if you spent more that one day swapped, you were stuck forever."

"Switching back is easier than re-switching. Once you're past that time limit, it takes a lot more energy 'cause your souls started to make itself comfortable in its new body. You didn't have enough magic to do a re-switch after the limit, but you've grown a lot since then. It's a Sakura Card now, remember?" Kero explained, much to the relief of both parties.

"Have you finished the test yet? Asked Terada-sensei, walking into the room. Sakura quickly stuffed Kero back into her bag, calling out, "Yes Terada-sensei" with the other test takers.

"Good." He said collecting the papers. "You are all free to go for lunch now."

"Arigatou, sensei." Tomoyo smiled as Terada took hers. "Sakura-chan, let's go find the others!" She linked arms with Syaoran, much to his annoyance, and pulled him along to the Sakura tree her friends were eating under.

Syaoran sat down and pulled out his lunch. He hadn't had any time to make anything, and had just grabbed a store-bought onigiri from his house. If _that girl_'s friends were just going to talk pointlessly all lunch, he may as well have something to focus on.

"Ara? What happened to your obento?" Naoko asked curiously.

"I didn't have time to make one." Syaoran said stiffly. "All the ingredients were bought by my brother and I don't trust him not to get something rotten again."

Rika leaned over. "Here, Sakura-chan, have some of mine." She said kindly.

It was torture, really, being forced to put up with this. "Arigatou, Rika-chan." He said, very uncomfortable with calling her by her first name. Meiling was the only girl he had ever done that to. He took a bite of the tempura. "O-oishii..."

"Hontou? Can I try some?" Chiharu was already helping herself. "You're right!" She exclaimed, eyes widening. "It's delicious! Rika-chan, you're certainly going to make some lucky man an excellent wife!"

Rika blushed. "Sakura-chan's pretty good too..." she mumbled.

"True, true!" Naoko agreed. "I'm almost jealous of your future husband, Sakura-chan! I've been living on my own and still can't cook!"

"You live on your own?" Chiharu frowned. "That sounds really lonely, doesn't it Sakura-chan?"

Syaoran frowned. Was it lonely? Wei had left with Meiling when she decided to return to Hong Kong, and it's not like he hadn't been living alone before then. "I guess..." He said. "I hadn't really thought about it before." It wasn't like he was missing much. His mother, the Li elders, they were all the same, expecting their prodigal son to be the new Card Master. Now that Sakura had been given that title...what his life would have been like without her was anyone's guess.

The brunette shrugged. "I have my books, and there's always plenty to do around the house."

Chiharu smiled. "I know! Naoko-chan has to come over to my house next time Yamazaki's parents invite themselves over. I mean, it's hard enough dealing with him at school! Rika-chan, Tomoyo-chan, Sakura-chan, you should come too!"

Yamazaki grinned, "It'll be just like one big party! Like how in India they always have get together parties where their fifth grade class celebrates the years of-"

"You see what I mean?" Chiharu groaned, shoving a piece of chicken into Yamazaki's open mouth. "He never stops lying."

Tomoyo shrugged. "But Chiharu-chan, you still love him anyway."

"Iie, don't be ridiculous." The pigtailed girl denied. "I like him just about as much as Li-kun likes Sakura-chan."

"Very good analogy, Chiharu-chan..." Tomoyo giggled.

Rika glanced at Syaoran's reddened face. "Ano, Sakura-chan, daijoubu?"

"A-aa..." he agreed.

"Didn't you notice?" Yamazaki interrupted. "Li-kun was staring at Sakura-chan the entire first day he came here, and he always looks at her when he sits over in his tree over there."

"Liar!" Chiharu snapped on reflex.

"I'm not lying this time!" Yamazaki insisted.

"That's what you always say." She responded flatly. "Our obaa-san was right, you do need glasses."

"Speaking of trees..." Naoko said quietly, "Do you think Li-kun over there needs some help? He seems a little stuck."

All eyes turned to Sakura, who was hanging upside down on a limb on the tree Syaoran often used to sit in and stare at no one in particular (or so he insisted). Not his fault Sakura was always directly in his line of view from there, and had nothing, _nothing, _to do with why he was sitting there. Of course.

The poor would-be-girl had gone out to find Syaoran's popular hangout, in an effort to affirm the disguise. She hadn't had any problems climbing the tree at first; Syaoran was in perfect physical condition. Training since practically childbirth tended to do that. With muscles she hadn't had before, Sakura found it easy to sit on the one of the lower branches, although she missed the flexibility that came from cheerleading.

Sakura had leaned against the trunk without difficulty, pulling out her lunch. What no one else had seen though was Keroberus leap out and try to snatch a morsel. Shrieking, she had swatted him away, only to find herself without balance. She flailed around wildly, finding nothing to hold on by.

"Wow," Noted the yellow creature. "It seems you're just as klutzy no matter which body you're in."

"Mou, Kero-chan...tatsukete!" Sakura was hanging upside down, holding on only with her knees.

"You got _up _there just fine, get yourself down." Kero said. "I'll just sit here and enjoy your lunch."

"Hoe! That's mine!" Sakura snatched it back and began to shovel it down as fast as she could, trying not to throw her obento everwhere. Keroberus sulked, making no effort to help the Card Mistress.

Despite her best efforts, rice begain raining onto the grass. "Ah!" Sakura cried as the grains scattered into the hair of the boy standing below.

"Li-kun, are you…alright?" Eriol said, an eyebrow raised slighly in barely concealed amusement.

She looked up, eyes swirling in desperation. "Eriol-kun! Save me!"


End file.
